India’s PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into quarter-finals of the French Open badminton event while they were joined by India’s top men’s doubled pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who beat compatriots MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila in Paris on Thursday.
Sindhu made her way to the women’s singles quarter-finals with an impressive win. The third seed beats Denmark’s Line Christophersen 21-19, 21-9.
Sen, meanwhile beat Singapore’s Loh Kean Lew 21-17 21-13 in 40 minutes in the men’s singles second-round match.
However, it was a rollercoaster battle in the all-Indian men’s doubles round of 16 match that went the way of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty. The 5th seeds were given a mighty test by Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun in a three-game 58-minute match. Went till 19-19 in the decider. In the end, Satwik-Chirag won 15-21, 21-10, 21-19.
But it was curtains for the mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy as they lost their round of 16 match.
The Indians lost to Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-15, 17-21, 19-21.
The India duo dominated the first game but its Indonesian opponents came back strongly to claim the next two games and the match in their favour.
In another men’s singles match, Sameer Verma retired hurt against Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito at the end of the second game when the scoreline read 16-21 21-12.
Sourabh Verma also bowed out after losing 21-12, 21-9 in 37 minutes to Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the men’s singles round of 16.
In the quarter-finals, Sen will face South Korea’s Lee Kwanghee while Sindhu will be up against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, a player she beat in Denmark last week. Sawtwik-Chirag face a tough challenge against fourth seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.
(With PTI inputs)
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